The Present Truth, vol. 13

May 6, 1897

“The Wisdom of Jesus” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

“And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 273.1

“Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.... PTUK May 6, 1897, page 273.2

“And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.” Luke 2:40-47. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 273.3

Of one thing each reader of this narrative should rest assured from the very beginning, and that is that Jesus was not, as we sometimes see it stated, “Disputing with the Doctors.” He was not doing anything that would be unbecoming in a child of twelve years. He was not putting Himself forward, nor “showing off.” He was not presuming to teach those learned doctors of the law, nor showing the least disrespect to them. He was listening to their instruction, and asking them questions on what they were teaching, just as every listener was expected to do. He was seeking knowledge; more wisdom may sometimes be revealed in the questions of a learner than in the instruction of a teacher. The questions of the child Jesus, asked for the purpose of gaining information, showed that He already had a marvellous perception and grasp of truth, greater perhaps than had the doctors. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 273.4

Later in life, when He was engaged in public labour, “the multitudes were astonished at His teaching; for He taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” Matthew 7:28, 29, R.V. “And when He was come into His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?” Matthew 12:54. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 273.5

The true answer to this question is scarcely understood even by the followers of Jesus. If it were, there would be more of the same wisdom among them; for just as truly as Christ “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7, R.V.); so that “it behoved Him in all things to be make like unto His brethren” (Hebrews 2:17), so truly did He possess no advantages over His brethren, and had access to no sources of wisdom that are not open to all. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.1

MADE IN ALL THINGS LIKE UNTO HIS BRETHREN

The common idea concerning Jesus is that He was born with special wisdom; that as an infant He possessed knowledge superior to that of most men; and that He did not need to learn as other folks do, but that His wisdom was inherited, so that He knew everything without any effort. Such an idea not only makes Him a monstrosity, but it places a great gulf between Him and us, so that we have nothing in common with Him, and derive, no help from Him. All our hope and consolation in Jesus rests in the fact that, as partaker of flesh and blood, He was subject to the same infirmities that we are, as weak and helpless in Himself as we are, yet without sin, and by the Divine life dwelling in Him made “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” He came to earth to let men know what God can do in human flesh; and just to the extent that we imagine Him to have “natural” abilities superior to ours, do we deprive ourselves of the grace that is brought to us in Him. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.2

The fact that Jesus was not born with greater knowledge than possessed by other infants, is indicated by the statement that He “increased in wisdom and stature and favour with God and men.” Luke 2:52. It would have been as incongruous for Him to be born with perfect wisdom, as to be born with full stature. He increased in wisdom as He grew in age and stature, just as other children are expected to. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.3

In the fifth chapter of Isaiah we have the Lord's own statement of how He obtained the wisdom that made Him the greatest teacher the world has ever seen. That this chapter contains the words of the Lord Jesus, is shown by verse 6, “I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting.” Now read verse 4: “The Lord God hath given Me the tongue of them that are taught, that I should know how to sustain with words him that is weary; He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as they that are taught,“ or “as disciples.” Christ was Himself, a disciple, a learner from the Father, thus showing that only they who are learners can be apt teachers. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.4

Jesus made no claims to be the possessor of a special gift. He said, “I can of Mine own self to nothing.” John 5:30. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do.” Verse 19. These are not the expressions of false modesty, for Jesus spoke only truth, as He is the Truth; therefore as no man can be any weaker than not to be able to do anything of himself, or more ignorant and not to know anything without being taught, even so there is no person in the world who does not possess the same advantages that Jesus did. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.5

Hear Him again: “Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things.” John 8:28. To Moses God said concerning Jesus, “I will raise, a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and I will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him.” Deuteronomy 18:18. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.6

THE PROMISES TO ALL BELIEVERS

All this is promised to all believers as well as to Jesus. “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5. To the captive exile the Lord says, “I have put My words in thy mouth.” Isaiah 51:14-16. As “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself,“ even so He has “put in us the word of reconciliation, so that He beseeches by us.” 2 Corinthians 5:19, 20. If it is given to us to pray “in Christ's stead, Be ye reconciled to God,“ then of course the same grace, and the same gifts by grace, are bestowed upon us that were bestowed upon Him. “Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.7

All this knowledge of Jesus came solely from the Word of God, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. He asked wisdom and received it just as we may. But we must not suppose that we are to ask for wisdom, and then go to sleep and wake up wise. We are to ask in faith, and that means according to God's promise, which is this: “My son, if thou wilt receive My words, and hide My commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” “Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.” Proverbs 2:1-6, 9. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.8

To the simple, even to fools and scorners, God says, “Turn you at My reproof; behold, I will pour out My Spirit unto you, I will make known My words unto you.” Proverbs 1:23. Jesus needed no reproof, for He did not turn aside from the way. He said, “I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Psalm 40:8. We have sinned, as He did not; but if we will turn at the reproof of the Lord, He will make known to us the same words of wisdom that He did to Christ; for Christ is made unto us wisdom, as well as righteousness. 1 Corinthians 1:3. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.9

How little we have realised the wonderful depths and heights and breadth of wisdom that is contained in the Word of God, to be freely bestowed on all who will humbly, patiently, and prayerfully study them. Both Solomon and He who is “greater than Solomon” derived all their wisdom from this source alone, as we have learned by the inspired testimony of Solomon. God, who through Solomon said, “My son, if thou wilt receive My words,“ “then shalt thou understand,“ was speaking to His Son Jesus, and also to us, whom He accepts as sons equally with Jesus. Jesus listened and learned. He says, “The Lord God hath opened Mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.” Isaiah 50:5. He has said to us that if any man willeth to do His will, he shall know. John 7:17. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 274.10

This wonderful knowledge is not hidden from children. Nay, the things that are hidden from the worldly wise and prudent are revealed unto babes. “I have more understanding than all my teachers; for Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients,“-the old man,-“because I keep Thy precepts.” Psalm 119:99, 100. This is not to the praise of the child, but of the Word, which any child, as well as Timothy and Jesus, may know. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.1

One thing must not be forgotten, and that is that such wisdom accompanies only true humility. The simplicity of real childhood must be maintained. We must always, even with the knowledge which the Word gives, confess that we know nothing except as we are taught. Natural pride, stubbornness, and willingness to acknowledge that we have nothing and are nothing, are the hindrances to the acquirement of true knowledge; but we have the assurance that the same God whose power bestows upon us the wisdom of Christ is able also to give us His meekness. Let us then be not rebellious, but submissive to the Word of wisdom. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.2

“A Statement on Paper” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

A report of the annual meeting of the Catholic Truth Society, lately held at the Archbishop's House, Westminster, and presided over by Cardinal Vaughan, contains the following paragraphs:— PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.3

The Bishop of Clifton (Mgr. Brownlow), in proposing the re-election of the officers of the society, commented on a paragraph in the report, which regretted that as yet little had been done towards supplying suitable literature for reaching Nonconformists. He felt that he was expected to write something, and he would do so if someone would supply him with a book telling him what Nonconformists really did believe. It was very difficult to ascertain this. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.4

Father Breen observed that the two great Nonconformist bodies, the Congregationalists and the Presbyterians, had at all events a pretty clear statement on paper of what they were supposed believe. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.5

This last suggestion covers the difficulty; it is the attempted statement on paper which creates all the ambiguity and multiplicity of creed. If those who call themselves Protestants were really Protestants and professed and knew no creed but the Bible, and the Bible only, then the confession that Roman Catholics did not understand their language would be self-conviction indeed. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.6

But practically, what business has any Christian with a statement of his belief on paper, outside of the Bible? No Christian certainly desirous to take away from, or add to, the Bible. Then if it is all there, why not say so, and attempt to go no further. “Preach the Word.” Refer the Bishop of Clifton to the Bible. If he cannot understand that no one else is responsible but himself. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.7

“All for Us” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

Notice how constantly the thoughts of Jesus were for His children. When His disciples were troubled because He had said He was about to leave them, He assured them, “It is expedient for you that I go away.” He was not thinking of Himself, of getting away from this cruel world and back again into the heavenly city. For us He went away. “I go to prepare a place for you.” His thoughts are with us now and His work for us. Now He appears “in the presence of God for us.” And when He comes again it is for His people. “I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be also.” From first to last the Lord's plans and thoughts were for the interests of His children, and so are they still. God Himself is “for us,“ and “if God be for us, who can be against us?” PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.8

“Patience” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

The virtue of patience is much insisted upon in the Bible. It is the attribute which especially characterises those who are at last victorious-the “patience of the saints.” PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.9

It is through faith and patience that we are to inherit the promises of God; so Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, exhorts to patient endurance, without slothfulness, that the promises may be obtained. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.10

When Christ was narrating to His disciples of troubles and persecutions which should befall them, His especial injunction was, “In your patience possess ye your souls.” In these very tribulations Paul gloried because they developed patience, as the athlete in training delights in his exercises and the laborious task and trials to which his strength is put, because it is through them that his strength and endurance grow,-for the Apostle said, “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience.” PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.11

It is these very tribulations, which try the faith of God's people, that develop the patience of the saints. And although it is but a little while, far less now than when the apostle said it was but a little time before He that shall come will come, and not tarry, yet even greater is the need of patience, that, after having done the will of God, the promise may be received. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.12

God Himself is the God of patience, and has promised to protect in the hour of temptation those who have “kept the word of My patience.” Then it will be that patience will have had her perfect work, and those who have possessed their souls in patience will be examples of the patience of the saints, “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” They will then have overcome, and Christ says, in Revelation, “Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out.” PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.13

“Burmese Mendicant Orders” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

The religious order of mendicants was an idea borrowed, like so many others, which came into the church in early centuries, from Oriental religions. The monkish mendicants of Latinism have their fellows in Buddhism. A writer in the Temple Magazine describes the mendicant order in Burma as follows:— PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.14

“The priest does not preach or conduct any religious meeting, and in fact has scarcely any priestly duties to perform. He gives the male children of the village an elementary education, and makes them commit to memory the prayers and legends of Gautama. Every morning, bareheaded and barefooted, with his begging bowl slung round his neck, the priest moves on his round to collect food. He does not ask for gifts; but with downcast eye stands silently in front of some hut until the person who lives there hurries out and pours food into his bowl. Without, uttering a word of thanks, or acknowledging the gift in any way, the priest, moves on and halts at another house. When he has collected sufficient food for the day he retraces his steps to the monastery. All the people give willingly, and great excitement is caused when a priest inverts his begging bowl and refuses to collect from his usual supporters. It is a sign that they have displeased him by committing some sin or neglecting to perform some religious duty. They are never satisfied until they have atoned for their sin; and the priest signifies his forgiveness by once more collecting from them.” PTUK May 6, 1897, page 275.15

“A Negative Religion” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

There are many people whose religion consists mainly in denying-not themselves, but what other folks say and teach. If they hear a sermon, no matter how good it is, they seem to see only something that at least has the appearance of unsoundness. They never hear anything but that they are ready with an objection. If they presume to teach, they use the time largely in combating what they deem to be error. Their Gospel is negative-simple unbelief; they get no good from anything themselves, and they never do anybody else any good, for nobody can possibly be helped by hearing what somebody else does not believe. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 278.1

Read the Scriptures through, and you will not find the words, “I don't believe.” No Bible writer ever fooled away time telling what he didn't believe, or how he didn't agree with somebody else. They had something to say. “I believed, therefore have I spoken,“ said David (Psalm 116:10); “We also believe, and therefore speak,“ said Paul, with “the same spirit of faith.” 2 Corinthians 4:13. Only positive teaching can edify. The teacher of the Gospel has only to buildup. There are thousands of things that no Christian can believe; but there are enough things he can and ought to believe, to keep him occupied to all eternity in, telling them. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 278.2

“Ecclesiastical Blindness” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

Ecclesiastical Blindness .—In a letter to the Abbe Louis Picard of the Primaval Church at Lyons, acknowledging the receipt of his recent work “Chrétien on Agnostiqne,“ Mr. Gladstone says:— PTUK May 6, 1897, page 278.3

The Controversy with the Roman Church depends for us on the question whether our Convocation or National Synods lost their place in the Catholic Church by disowning, not communion with the Latin Church, but the jurisdiction of the Pope in England, or by any other portion of the system finally established by the Church and the State in 1661; or by the loss of valid consecrations, as the Pope Leo XIII. has, unhappily as it seems to me, for the Latin Church, rather than for us, recently declared. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 278.4

This is the same as saying that the difference between the Church of England and the Church of Rome is not radical, but only technical. When the burden of Churchmen is that the Church of England is just as good as the Church of Rome, and that their orders are just as valid as those of Romanism, it can readily be seen that the matter of complete union rests solely with the Church of Rome, and that it is therefore only a question of time. It will come whenever the ends of Rome will be best served by it. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 278.5

“Items of Interest” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

The London Vegetarian Society lately banqueted the clergy, and took the occasion to urge upon them the claims of vegetarianism and abstinence from alcoholic liquors. It was said that in ten years the advocates of vegetarianism increased in London some twenty-fold. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.1

-It is expected that every navy in the world will be represented in the naval review at Spithead on June 26. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.2

-The plague in Bombay is steadily decreasing, and hopes are entertained that it will soon have disappeared. It appears, however, in various parts of India. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.3

-At the Surgical Congress in Berlin a surgeon presented a patient who had been stabbed in the heart. The wounded heart was freely exposed and the edges of the wound sewed together, with the result that the patient recovered. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.4

—A Reuter's telegram states that forty-one persons have been killed in a hailstorm in Mexico. Some of the hailstones are said to have weighed three pounds each. Disastrous floods are also reported in the southwestern United States. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.5

-A Parliamentary committee of twelve members has been appointed “to conduct an inquiry, from the point of view of the British farmer, into the proposals which have been made for the storage of wheat in elevators as a part of a system of national defence.” PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.6

-The Lapps are said to be rapidly disappearing as a people, the reason given being the decrease in their herds of reindeer, upon which they depend for subsistence, and the use of intoxicating liquors. At the present rate of decrease the race will not last more than fifty years. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.7

-The Provincial Legislature of British Columbia has imitated the United States in forbidding Mongolian immigration. The Act absolutely forbids, also, the employment of any Chinese or Japanese on any undertakings aided by grant of state charters from the Legislature. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.8

-There are 6,410 daily newspapers published in the world. The total number of newspapers of all kinds is 42,800, of these the United States publishes 19,760; Great Britain is next on the list with 8,050; while Persia has the smallest number, 8. Eighty-one different languages are represented. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.9

-Mr. Bottomley, who was connected with a syndicate that failed for a large amount a few years ago, last week set aside ?250,000 as a gift for shareholders who have suffered by the lord. His action in the matter is so contrary to usual commercial methods that no little excitement was caused by it. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.10

-According to the Statistical Society the savings of the United Kingdom, laid up in the various savings bank friendly societies, co-operative societies, ... societies, etc., amount to the sum of 277 billions of pounds, and are increasing at the rate of eleven millions yearly. The collective savings of the civilised world are estimated at ?1,400,000,000. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.11

-The dangers of window cleaning from the outside are emphasised by the fact shown by official statistics that in one year 1,895 out of 930,000,000 passengers carried by the railways of the United Kingdom but 386 lost their lives by accident, and 140 lives were lost by street accidents in London during the same period, but during that time there were 586 deaths recorded as caused by failing from windows and from buildings. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 286.12

“Back Page” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

“Three-fifths of the national income,“ says a London newspaper, “is now spent on the killing departments,“ that is on army and navy and payments on war debts. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.1

“The Word of God is living and powerful.” God says so. When we come to His Word, then, we come into the presence of the living God. When we read the Word God is talking to us. When we pray we are talking to God. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.2

“During the last year, said the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget speech last week, our people have smoked and drank more, they have earned more money, paid more income tax, and, last but not least, have paid more death duties than in preceding years.” PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.3

The Australian correspondent of the Western Daily Mercury sends an interesting account of an interview with a ship captain who was recently becalmed off Pitcairn Island. He said that the people appeared to be “a happy, healthy lot,“ and he learned that they were Seventh-day Adventists, interested in doing missionary work. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.4

A series of earthquakes was reported from the West Indies this week, attended by great destruction. “Earthquakes in divers places” are heard of nowadays very frequently; in fact, their increasing frequency leads the world to think less of their significance. In these days of “wars and rumours of wars” occasioned by covetousness and racial hatreds, the shaking earth ought to teach men that they would better be employed in building on some more substantial and enduring foundation than earthly ambitions. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.5

At the recent anniversary meetings of the great missionary societies many missionaries from different parts have testified to the awful power that witchcraft places in the hands of heathen priests. It is a world-wide curse by which Satan keeps myriads in bondage. The same accursed influence is in Spiritualism, the principles of which are finding their way into the ranks in the religious world. The little pamphlet, “The Sin of Witchcraft” (2nd), which we have prepared on this subject, shows what the Scripture says of the delusion. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.6

“Waking Up” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

Waking Up .—“There is a crisis in the history of China,“ said Mr. Bruce, of North China, at a missionary meeting the other day. “We hear of coming changes, of railways, of armies to be reorganised and armed with weapons made in Germany, of a new navy. With me, hope for China does not lie in these things. I dread the spread of civilisation without the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.7

“Man Cannot Reverse It” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

Man Cannot Reverse It .—When Balaam had tried to curse Israel and failed he had the candour to say, “He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.” Now God has blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, making it His holy Sabbath. Men may try to evade it, to curse it, and trample upon it. But God has blessed, and no man can reverse it. The blessing is still there every week. That is why God says, “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it.” Isaiah 56:2. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.8

“What War Is” The Present Truth, 13, 18.

E. J. Waggoner

It is a most singular thing, yet it is a fact, that the loudest calls for war that have been heard within the last two or three years, have come from the ministers of the Gospel. From thousands of pulpits appeals have been made for any or all of the Powers to proceed to annihilate the Turks, in the interest of the Armenians; later, the Cretans have been encouraged in their efforts to throw off Turkish rule, and Greece has been applauded for taking the part of Crete in order that she might get the whole; while many of the same preachers unsparingly berated the English Government for not joining the Greeks in their war with Turkey. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.9

What a strange spectacle,-professed ministers of the Gospel of peace, to say nothing of thousands of church members, clamouring for war! Do they know what war is? Let us just take the barest glance at it, as it really is. One of the war correspondents with the Turkish army, in the course of his description of the battle of Mati, says:— PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.10

The guns were already clouded in smoke and dust. Now and again a dot came travelling up toward us with painful slowness-a wounded artilleryman; now moaning convulsively; now silent, and swallowing an invisible lump, with twitching eyes. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.11

Who cannot see the picture of the strong man striving to repress any expression of the pain that was nevertheless overmastering him? Later on, the correspondent says:— PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.12

The ambulance drove forward to pick up our wounded, and Edhem Pasha pushed on behind his victorious troops. I passed a Turkish soldier who lay with both legs broken, sobbing piteously with pain. And then I hated war. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.13

And who would not? For war means those same scenes magnified, and multiplied a thousand times. It means men helpless and suffering with wounds, lying in some spot for hours and even days in the heat and cold, famishing for water. In short, it means wholesale murder, aggravated by the fact that many of the victims are not killed outright. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.14

We are charitable enough to believe that most of this call for war, from the lips of professed Christians, would cease if those who do the calling could be placed for a season in the front ranks. Not that they are cowards, but that they do not stop to think what they are talking about. The fact is, that every man who shouts for war is simply an aider and abettor of murder. One famous general declared that “war is hell,“ and it is fact that the spirit of war is the spirit of Satan. An officer in the Franco-Prussian war said that if he had led a regiment of angels into the battle they would have come back devils. How can Christians be in any way whatever accessories to such fiendish work? PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.15

It is for the purpose of warning, not of condemning, that we write. We know that there are thousands of sincere Christians who “know not what manner of spirit they are of” when they call for war, to avenge wounded honour or even outrage, and some with whom we have talked have been shocked, on having their attention called to the matter, to find that they were unconsciously being inspired by the spirit of the devil, for it is the spirits of devils, that go about to stir up war. See Revelation 16:14. The man who shouts for and applauds murder is at heart a murderer. In this time when the nations are preparing war, “great plainness of speech” is necessary, in only that some at least may be awakened to their danger, and may for ever break loose from the fierce, murderous, Satanic spirit that is benumbing the senses of the world's millions, and carrying them to everlasting destruction. PTUK May 6, 1897, page 288.16